1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a honeycomb catalyst, which is used for conversion of exhaust gas from vehicles, is fabricated by disposing materials of a high specific surface area like active alumina and catalysts like platinum on the surface of a monolithic cordierite-based honeycomb structure having a low thermal expansion characteristic. In addition, the honeycomb catalyst carries an alkali-earth metal like barium to act as an occlusion-type NOx catalyst for a NOx processing in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, such as atmospheres in a lean-burn engine or a Diesel engine.
In order to further improve conversion performance, it is necessary to increase the contact probability between the exhaust gas and the catalyst element and the NOx occlusion agent as well. For this purpose, it is required to increase the specific surface area of the carrier, decrease diameters of catalyst elements and highly disperse the catalyst elements. However, if simply increasing the amount of the materials of high specific surface areas like active alumina, it is the thickness of the active alumina layer only that is increased, and it does not lead to an increase of the contact probability, but results in a pressure loss. For this reason, modifications have been made on cell shapes, cell densities, wall thicknesses, and so on. For example, see JP-A 10-263416 (below, referred to as “reference 1”).
On the other hand, a honeycomb structure formed from materials of high specific surface areas is known to be formed by extrusion molding of the materials of high specific surface areas together with inorganic fibers and inorganic binders. For example, see JP-A 5-213681 (below, referred to as “reference 2”).
Further, a honeycomb structure is known, which is obtained by bonding honeycomb units with an adhesive agent in order to increase the size of the above honeycomb structure. For example, see DE 4341159A1 (below, referred to as “reference 3”).
Additionally, the entire contents of JP-A 10-263416, JP-A 5-213681, and DE 4341159A1 are hereby incorporated by reference.